Edging machine



EDGING MACHINE Filed June 1, 1936 Patented I Mar. 9, 1937 UNITED STATESPAT EDGING MACHINE New Jersey Application June 1, 1936, Serial No.82,729

' In Great Britain July 5, 1935 Claims.

This invention relates to edging machines and is illustrativelydescribed as embodied in a machine of the type shown in Letters Patentof the United States No. 1,464,504, granted August 14,

5 1923 on an application of Joseph Fossa.

Such machines commonly employ a U-shaped searing tool which is appliedto the margin of a piece of work, such as a portion of the uppor of theshoe, to shrink the margin of the leather and cause it to curl so thatin the finished piece, the edge presents only the grain surface insteadof the flesh surface which resulted when the piece was originally cutout of the skin. The tools of such machines are sometimes heated bymeans of an oxyacetylene torch and at other times by the passage of anelectric current through the tool. Difiiculty has been experiencedparticularly in machines of the latter type in clamping the legs of saidtools to the electric leads through which current is supplied thereto.It will be understood that the gripping of the tool to the lead must beeffective not only to prevent arcing between the two parts but,furthermore, must insure the passage of the full current through thetool without that resistance which would result from a poor contactbetween the clamping member and the tool. An object of the invention isto provide improved clamping mechanism for machines of this generaltype. In accordance with features of the invention, the mechanism isarranged to provide for several turns of the clamping member after ithas been brought into full engagement with the tool, thereby to displaceany foreign matter. As illustrated herein, the clamping member is springpressed into engagement with the leg of the tool and provision is madefor turning that member by a screw having a tongue-andgroove connectionthereto. The arrangement allows two complete turns of the screw to bemade before the two parts of the clamping member are brought intopositive engagement with one another and, hence, with the tool.

These and other features of the invention will be more fully understoodfrom the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of theelectrical leads of such a machine and showing one leg of 50 the toolheld in position therein by our novel clamping mechanism;

Fig. 2 shows the two-part clamping member removed from the lead;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the tongue-and- 55 groove connectionbetween the parts of said clamping member, taken at right angles to Fig.2, and

Fig. 4 shows, on an enlarged scale, a U-shaped searing tool suitable foruse with this clamping mechanism.

A lead ill to which electric current is supplied through a horizontalextension 12 is arranged to be vertically positioned in the machine andis provided with a recess in the form of a transverse slot I4 near itslower end to receive the horizontally out-turned portion it of the legE8 of a U-Shaped searing tool T, such as is shown in Fig. 4. This toolhas a substantially horizontal work-contacting portion 20 and its otherleg 22 is turned outwardly at 24 in the opposite direction. It will beunderstood that a machine of the type shown in the Fossa Patent No.1,464,504, mentioned above is provided with two such leads [0, eachreceiving one of the out-turned ends It or 24 of the tool T. The body Inof the lead is provided with a bore 26 which is enlarged at 28 toreceive a two-part clamping member C. The lower part 29 of this clampingmember comprises a rod 30 having a sliding fit in the bore 26 and thelower end of this rod is adapted to contact with and clamp theout-turned leg iii of the tool in the slot M. The upper part 32 of theclamping member has a portion 34 threaded for engagement in the bore 28.The lower end of this upper part 32 is provided with a slot or groove 36to receive a tongue 38 on the lower part 29. These parts are heldtogether by a pin 40 which passes through a slot 42 in the tongue 38. Aspring 44 surrounding the adjacent ends of the two-part clamping memberbears against a shoulder 46 on the lower part and a shoulder 48 adjacentto the threaded portion 34 on the upper part, this tending normally tohold these parts in extended position.

Assuming that the threaded portion 34 has been turned by means of awrench applied to its head 50 thereby to draw back the clamping rod 30,the tool T is positioned with its out-turned portion 16 in the slot 14of the lead. The clamping member is then turned to bring the lower endof the clamping rod 30 into contact with the tool. After contact hasbeen established, the spring-pressed clamping rod 30 may be givenapproximately two full turns before the spring 44 is compressedsufficiently to allow the tongue 38 to seat in the groove 36 and thusforce the clamping rod 39 into positive engagement with the tool. Bythus providing for several turns of thespring-pressed clamping memberwhile it is in engagement with the tool, a full electrical contact willbe assured, even though there may be present in the slot l4 someaccumulation of charred material, such as results from the treatment ofthe leather or from the corrosion of the parts due to the repeatedheating and cooling of the tool. The scraping action of the lowerclamping rod 30 on the tool will wear away any such corrosion and whileassuring efficient electrical contact, will provide an arrangement inwhich the tool may readily be removed and replaced. It will be notedthat the threaded portion 34 of the clamping member is at a distancefrom the tool so that the heat transmitted thereto will be very muchlessened.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for finishing the edge of a piece of leather comprising, incombination, a substantially U-shaped tool having legs, supportsrecessed to receive said legs, one of said supports being provided witha spring-pressed clamping member, and means to rotate said clampingmember to move it into clamping position.

2. A machine for finishing the edge of a piece of leather comprising, incombination, a substantially U-shaped tool having legs, supportsrecessed to receive said legs, one of said supports being provided witha spring-pressed clamping member, and means to bring said clampingmember into clamping position constructed and arranged to impart severalturns to said member after it has been brought into contact with the legof the tool.

3. A machine for finishing the'edge of a piece of leather comprising, incombination, a substantially U-shaped tool having legs, supportsrecessed to receive said legs, one of said supports being provided witha spring-pressed clamping member, and means tobring said clamping memberinto clamping position constructed and arranged to impart several turnsto said member after it has been brought into contact with the leg ofthe tool, said means also being arranged to bring the clamping memberinto positive'engagement with the tool.

i. In a machine of the class described, a substantially U-shaped toolhaving legs and adapted to be heated by the passage of an electriccurrent to treat the margin of a piece of leather, electric leadsprovided with recesses to receive the legs of said tool, one of saidleads being provided with a clamping member having slidablyinterconnected parts constructed and arranged forrotation together, anda spring tending to separate said parts, one of said parts being adaptedto contact with the leg of the iron to clamp it in position and theother part being threaded in said lead.

5. A machine for finishing the edge of a piece of leather comprising asubstantially U-shaped shrinking tool having legs portions of which areturned outwardly, electric leads arranged in an upright position andprovided with horizontal slots to receive the out-turned portions of thelegs of the tool, one of said leads being hollow to receive a two-partclamping member, one part of which is arranged for engagement with theout-turned leg and the other part of which is threaded in the lead, atongue-and-groove connection between said parts whereby they may beturned together, and a spring tending to separate said parts.

FRED RICKS. JOHN HUNTER ANDREWS.

